English ideas about identity are at the heart of why they find it difficult to feel at home in Scotland a new University of Glasgow study has found. English identity is primarily influenced by birthplace while Pakistani identity is more complex and influenced mostly by religion.

Research involving 1200 telephone surveys and 12 focus groups found that almost half of the English subjects feel that to be 'truly Scottish' it is essential to be born in Scotland while less than a quarter of the Pakistanis believe birthplace matters.

The study conducted by Professor William Miller and Dr Asifa Hussain of the University of Glasgow's Politics Department discovered that English people in Scotland are still more sympathetic than Pakistanis towards Scottish symbols like the Saltire or towards the teaching of Scottish history in schools. However, this did not make them more comfortable with living in Scotland.

"English people in Scotland have a more rigid, territorial identity than people in the Scottish Pakistani community. They are self-consciously aware that they are not living in their birthplace, making it difficult for them to feel Scottish even though they respect and sympathise with Scotland", said Professor Miller.

Religion was the key influence behind Pakistani identity with 60% of participants saying they were Muslim rather than Pakistani, British or Scottish. Only two percent of English subjects chose a religious identity and primarily (57%) saw themselves as British opposed to English, Scottish, Catholic, Episcopalian or Protestant.

While religion was the main influence behind Pakistani identity, they were still remarkable Scottish nationalist. Their identity was complex and they thought of themselves one way when watching sport and another way when thinking about politics.

The study also indicated that Scotland is very different from England in terms of ethnic inclusiveness. It found that even amongst ethnic Pakistanis born outside Scotland a mere 15 percent identify more strongly with Britain than with Scotland. This wasn't the case in the Government's recent General Household Survey, which suggests that 'Britishness' is viewed as 'inclusive' while 'Englishness' is seen as 'exclusive' and found that amongst 'non-whites' in England almost five times as many feel British rather than English.

A paper on the University of Glasgow study is to be delivered at the Royal Society of Edinburgh conference on Anglo-Scottish Relations held at the RSE on 6 - 7 November 2003 The conference is open to the public.

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

For further information please call:

Professor William Miller, Department of Politics, University of Glasgow Tel: 0141 330 4680 Email: w.l.miller@socsci.gla.ac.uk

Judith or Kate in the University of Glasgow?s Press Office Tel: 0141 330 3535

Royal Society of Edinburgh Tel: 0131 240 5000

First published: 28 October 2003